doble



J. A. DOBLE.

FUEL BURNER.

APPLICATION FILED MAILB, 1917.

1 3 1 6,021 v. Patented Sept. 16, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- WITNESS 1N VEN TOR.

H/5 A TTORNE Y5 1.,A. DOBLE.

FUEL BURNER.

APPLICATION FILED MAILB, I917.

1 3 1 6 ,02 1 Patented Sept. 16, 1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESS INVENTOR.

Ji/LDOBLEI HA5 A TTORNE Y5 UNITED STATES PATENT curios.

il'UHN A. DOBLE, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T0 DOIBL ELABOKTOBIEQ 011' SAN FRANCISGO, CALIFORNIA, A. CORPORATION OF @AIJEOBNIAFUEL-BURNER.

fipecification of Letters Iatent.

Patented dept. f6, 1919..

To all whom it may concern:

Be it kllOWIl that l, JOHN A. Donne, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of the city and county of San Francisco and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Fuel-Burners, of whichthe following is a specification.

The invention relates to fuel burners and particularly to liquid orgaseous fuel burners.

fin object of the invention is to provide a method of burning fuelwhereby gases of high velocity are produced.

Another object of the invention is to provide a fuel burner in which thekinetic energy of the burning fuel induces sufiicient air into theburner to complete combustion of the fuel. 5

Another object of the-invention is to provide a fuel burner in which theblower for supplying auxiliary air for completing combustion iseliminated.

A. further object of the invention may be to provide a steam generatingunit which has a large capacity in roportion to its size and which ishighly e cient.

The invention possesses other advantageous features, some of which, withthe foregoing, will be set forth at length in the fol lowin descriptionwhere l shalloutline in full, t at form of the invention which l[ haveselected for illustration in the drawings accompanying and forming partof the present specification. in said drawing l have shown one specificembodiment of my generic invention and several modifications thereof,but it is to be understood that I do not limit myself to such forms,since the invention as expressed in the claims may be embodied in aplurality of forms.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of one form of burner of my inventionassociated with a steam generator, part thereof being broken away toreduce the size of the figure.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section on a larger scale of the air and fuelnozzle and a portion of the spraying chamber. a

Fig. 3 is a cross section of the steam generator talren on the line3--3, Fig. l.

Fi d is a longitudinal section of a modilied form of burner.

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section of a burner in which high pressure airfor spraying the fuel is eliminated. i

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which are provided with a stack or other draft-producing means forcreating a reductlon 0 pressure in the combustion chamber.

The burner is particularly applicable to steam generators forsteam-propelled autos mobiles and similar vehicles, air-craft,submarines and isolated heatin plants and devices which cannot be readiy provided with stacks or other draft producing means. in

theburner of my invention l produce initial ignition of a mirrture offuel and insuficient air to produce complete combustion and cause thevelocity or ln'netic ener of the flame so produced to induce su cientair into the burner to complete the combustion of the fuel. pletecombustion of the fuel and on account of the expansion of the air andthe gases of combustion due to the complete combustion, a stream of gasof high velocity is produced. This high velocity gas can be efiectivelyutilized to produce power by feeding it directly to the blades of aturbine, constructed on the general principle of steam turbine blades.

The burner comprises a cup or shell 3, preferably elongated in form, inthe end of which are arranged fuel and air nozzles in atomizingrelation. Fuel under pressure and preferably liquid fuel, such askerosene, distillate or heavy oil, from a suitable source, such as thetanlr at, is introduced into the oil nozzle 5 through the pipe 6, whichis provided with a manually operated valve "i. llir under pressure froma suitable source, such as the tanlr s, is introduced into the air nozale 9 through the pipe 12which is provided with a manually operatedvalve l3. The nozzles are so arranged that the fuel spray producedthereby is directed toward the open end of the shell 3. Arranged in theshell, in front of the nozzles, is a spark plug it or This additionalair causes com-' ltd lid

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'lllll other ignition device for igniting the combustible mixture. Theair in this mixture is preferably only that which it has. been necessaryto employ to spray the fuel and. is insuficient to complete combustion,but is sufficient to allow the mixture to become ignited. The burning ofthe mixture greatly increases its volume, so that the burning mixture isexpelled from the shell at a high velocity.

Surrounding the shell 3 and supporting the shell is a tube 15,preferably a Venturi tube having a flaring outlet, with its narrowportion adjacent the discharge end of the shell 3. The kinetic energy ofthe high velocity ases discharging from the shell into the i l enturitube cause air to be 'drawn into the tube and past the end of the shelland to mix With the burning mixture, thereby producing completecombustion and increasing the velocity of the gases. For a given sizedopening between the shell and the venturi, the amount of air drawn inwill vary with the amount of fuel discharged from the nozzle and theopening is preferably made of such size that the amount of air drawn inis that which is required for complete combustion of the fuel, althoughfor turbine use, a greater amount of air may be introduced. From the endof the shell, the Venturi tube flares out into the steam generator orother apparatus. When used in connection with a heat-absoring mediumcontaining apparatus, the venturi is short, so that the mixture isburned within the apparatus, but when used in connection with a turbine,the flaring mouthed tube is preferably of such length that combustion iscomplete before the gases contact with the turbine blades. The expansionof the gases in the flaring mouth cools them and Increases theirvelocity, so that they enter the turbine runner at high velocity. InFig. 1 I have shown the burner in connection with a steam generatorwhich is particularly applicable to steam automobile practice. When theburner is employed to gen erate steam for operating an engine, thepressure air and the pressure on the fuel is preferably produced by apump 16, connected to the engine, but when the burner is employed forotheruses, the pressure may be produced in any desirable manner.

The steam generator shown in Figs. 1 and 3 comprises a plurality ofcontiguous parallel tubes 17 arranged about a common center, so that acombustion chamber is formed within the bunch of tubes. This arrangementroduces a large tube area in contact with the fire and the hot gases,and on account of the relatively small diameter of the tubes, permitsthe use of comparatively light weight tubes, which will withstand thepressure produced within them. The tubes are long and are connected attheir ends to headers 18'19. The steam header 18 isflaring passagetherethrough to assist in the discharge of the gases from the generator.

The headers and tubes are surrounded with a casing 22 of heat-insulatingmaterial. The feed water is introduced into the header 19 through thepipe 23 and the steam discharges from header 18 through the pipe 2 L.

Means are provided for varying the flow of air and fuel to the nozzle inaccordance with variations in conditions in the steam generating unit.Communicating with the header 18 is a cylinder 25 having a spring loadedpiston 26 which is operatively connected to valves 27 and 28 in the airand fuel pipes respectively, so that an increase in pressure reduces theair and oil supply and vice versa. Arranged in thermal communicationwith the header 18 is a thermostat 29 which is operatively connected tovalves 31 and 32 in the air and fuel lines respectively, so that theamount of air and fuel fed to the nozzle varies with the steamtemperature.

In Fig. 4 I have shown a modified form of construction in which thefuel, instead of being introduced into the nozzle under pressure isintroduced into a float chamber 33 to which the fuel nozzle 34 isconnected. The air nozzle 35 is arranged in atomizin relation with thefuel nozzle and the air discharging from the nozzle 35 raises the fuelin nozzle 34 and blows it into a spray. This obviates the necessity ofcarrying the fuel under pressure or of introducing it under pressureinto the nozzle.

In Fig. 5 I have shown a modification in which the air under pressure iseliminated and the fuel spray produced by the pressure of the fuel. Thefuel spray nozzle 36, to which the fuel is fed under pressure, isarranged in the Venturi tube 37 which is supported within the Venturitube 15. The nozzle discharge end is arranged at the narrow portion ofthe venturi 37 and is constructed to project a s ray of fuel in thedirection of the length of the venturi 37. The spark plug 14 is arrangedadjacent the nozzle and the kinetic energy of the spray causes a flow ofthe air through the venturi 37 in sufiicient quantity to establishcombustion. The burning mixture discharges from the venturi 37 into theventuri 15 at its narrow portion and the kinetic energy of the burningmixture induces a suflicient supply of auxiliary air through the venturi15 to complete combustion.

I claim:

1. The method of burning liquid fuel which consists in projecting aspray of the liquid fuel and an amount of air sufficient only to spraythe fuel, igniting the spray thus produced whereby a flame is producedand passing said flame in inductive relation to the external air wherebysuch air is drawn into contact with the flame, the amount of air inducedby the velocity of the flame being sufficient to complete the combustionof the liquid fuel.

2. A fuel burner comprising a chamber having an open end, a Venturi tubesurrounding and spaced from said chamber and extending beyond the openend thereof, means for producing a spray of fuel and air in the chamberdirected toward the open end thereof and means within the chamber forigniting said mixture.

3. In a fuel burner, a Venturi tube open to the air at one end and meansin the tube for producing an ignited incompletely com bustible mixtureprojected in the direction of the axis of the tube.

a. In a fuel burner, a Venturi tube open to the air at one end, achamber arranged in the tube and spaced therefrom, having its opened enddisposed at the narrow portion of the tube, means in the chamber forproducing a spray of fuel and air and means in the chamber for ignitingsaid spray, whereby a high velocity flame in the direction of the axisof the tube is produced.

5. In a fuel burner, an open end chamber, a fuel nozzle and an airnozzle in atomizing relation in this chamber, means for feeding fuel andair to said nozzles in such proportion that an incompletely combustiblemixture is produced, an ignition device arranged in said chamber and anopen ended tube of larger diameter than said chamber surrounding thedischarge end of said chamber and into which the ignited incompletelycombustible mixture is projected, the kinetic energy of the flamedischarging from the chamber causing the flow of air through the tubeand into the flame to complete combustion of the fuel.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at San Francisco,California, this 3rd day of March, 1917.

JOHN A. DOBLE.

In presence of- If. G. PRos'r.

